As the sun burned through an overcast sky midday Thursday, Fruitvale looked festive, but a pall of fear still hung in the air.
Street vendors and brick-and-mortar business owners all said customer traffic was already down this year in general and said Thursday was unusually quiet following news that the federal government was planning a Customs and Border Patrol operation in the Bay Area.
Fruitvale has one of the highest concentrations of immigrants and noncitizens among Oakland neighborhoods, according to census data, and the area is known as the center of Latino community in The Town. Outside the Fruitvale BART Station, where a farmers market is hosted every Thursday, regulars said only about half the typical number of vendors had shown up. Decorations for the Dia de Muertos festival on Nov. 2 were already hung, with colorful paper wrapping streetlights and papel picado with the words amistad, paz, and amor (friendship, peace, and love) lining Fruitvale Village.
After a rush around noon when students from ARISE High School descended on the village for lunch, the commercial zone cleared out quickly. The operators of stalls selling cellular plans, hats, and other items paced back and forth or sat on milk cartons scrolling on their phones with no customers to serve.
At Titi Pupusas, a vendor that sets up in Fruitvale Village alongside other market stalls on Tuesdays and Thursdays, owner Karen, who asked that we only use her first name for fear of attracting the attention of immigration enforcement, said business has been slow since May.
“Business is down 50%,” she said in Spanish. “It’s dead today. Usually there is a line of people at the produce vendor over there and there’s no one. And that’s with half the market vendors not showing today. Other than the students, there’s nobody out.”
Empty tables at Fruitvale Village at lunchtime on Thursday, the day after word broke of a major Customs and Border Protection Operation in the Bay Area. Credit: Tovin Lapan/The Oaklandside
Isabel Romero, who runs a churro stand at the corner of 12th Street and 34th Avenue said she barely saw any customers in the morning and the day had been very slow for her, too.
“I am worried that if there are immigration sweeps here in the community it will get worse. No one will come and we’ll have to close,” Romero said of the 19-year-old business she had inherited from her sister four years ago.
She pointed to a bank of cafe tables behind her. “Normally, this whole area would be full of people hanging out, drinking coffee, eating lunch,” she said. “Today, it’s empty.”
At Understory, a restaurant on International Boulevard, a laminated piece of paper labeled “FOH Safety Policies” sat on the host’s stand. One instruction read: “No Entry!” and continued, “NO SIGNED JUDICIAL WARRANT = NO ENTRY. Anyone attempting to enter the building is required to identify themselves. (First + Last Name and Badge Number).”
The worker-owned restaurant known for its vegan and gluten-free offerings has been participating in organizing efforts led by Restore Oakland to prepare the community for immigration enforcement activity.
“We’ve let the nearby street vendors know that if they feel unsafe for whatever reason they can come inside Understory,” said Rochell Bunyapanasarn, an Understory worker-candidate. “It’s been a little quieter today than normal. I think the latest news shows the importance of community organizing that’s been going on for months.”
Along a nearby stretch of International Boulevard around 1 p.m., businesses were open but mostly empty. A “ICE out of Oakland” sign hung in the window of a store selling quinceañera dresses, and a banner reading “Filtra Cafe No Vidas” (filter coffee, not lives) hung above the entrance of the Red Bay Coffee headquarters.
Sandra Cruz, who was running the Chalateco pupusa stand at 34th Avenue and International, said she opened at 5 a.m. only to find that her usual customers were nowhere to be seen.
“I think we’re down 70%,” she said. “There is a lot of fear in the community. We heard that Saturday will be the day for raids and people are saying, ‘Don’t go out, stay home.’”
Prudencio Chales, a fruit vendor for two decades, stood by his cart on International alone. He said the news of federal immigration sweeps has only made an already slow year worse. On Thursday he estimated he’d seen 80% fewer customers than usual.
“People are scared,” he said. “It’s been very quiet today because everyone is staying home, staying off the streets. But the year has also been bad. There is no work, and people are already not coming out as much because they don’t have money to spend.”
As news spread midday Thursday that President Donald Trump had called off a federal enforcement “surge” in San Francisco, chatter and speculation trickled through the community. A single customer arrived at Chales’ fruit stand and asked if it was true that the immigration agents would not be coming into Oakland. Chales shrugged. The customer asked if the helicopters that had been buzzing above all morning were law enforcement or news. Another shrug.
Back in Fruitvale Village, Crystal Wahpepah, owner of Wahpepah’s Kitchen, said the community was “tight knit” and sensed everyone was still “feeling things out.”
“We’re definitely concerned,” she said. “So far we’re just waiting it out.”
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